It is known that vehicle wheels are, generally, made up of a cylindrical metal rim having, at the axial extremities, annular flanges between which is defined a slot-in fitting channel for an elastic tire, the side portions of which, so-called “beads”, are blocked up firmly against the annular flanges themselves.
The need is also known to carry out frequent balancing operations which consist of fitting weights, made of lead or other material, at predetermined points of the wheel and along the rim.
During wheel rotation, the fitting of the weights offsets the presence of any tire and/or rim irregularities.
To carry out such operations, balancing machines are commonly used that comprise a supporting structure for wheel grip and rotation means, of the type of a horizontal shaft that can be turned axially by means of the operation of motor means and on which the wheel rim is keyed.
The measurement of wheel unbalance is determined during rotation by means of suitable electronic or electro-mechanical devices, such as force transducers fitted along the horizontal shaft.
To the unbalance measurement are normally added other characteristic measurements, such as wheel roundness measurement, wheel eccentricity, amount of tread wear, etc., normally made by means of suitable measuring sensors with or without contact (e.g., feelers or optic sensors).
It is also known that such balancing machines have suitable interface means suitable for allowing interaction with the machine, by an operator during unbalance measuring operations and during the subsequent balancing operations.
Such interface means are linked to the balancing machine electronics and allow the interaction between the operator and the machine control software.
The interface means generally comprise a monitor fixed to the supporting structure of the machine and suitable for displaying information relating to unbalance measurements and information to guide the operator during the balancing operations.
The interface means also comprise a keyboard with a plurality of keys that can be used by the operator to modify the measuring settings before determining the unbalance, or to allow the operator to display and manage the collected data, after determining the unbalance.
Known balancing machines are disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0065971 A1, published Mar. 27, 2009. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0053223 A1, published Mar. 6, 2008, and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0145221A1, published Jun. 11, 2009.
These known balancing machines however do have some drawbacks.
A monitor, however compact and of reduced dimensions, nevertheless has fairly large overall dimensions and calls for the supporting structure to be suitably prepared for its installation in an easy-to-reach position visible to the appointed operator. Furthermore, during the balancing machine assembly stage, both the monitor and the keyboard must be fixed to the supporting structure and connected to the machine electronics using special wires, which consequently requires a fairly long time.